Abandoned Wagons, coaches and rolling stock

[Kris]

On 18/01/2014 at 16:04, Cornish Triang Paul said:

The two bogie tankers are still at the old sidings just before Penzance - don't know when they were put there.

These have now gone. They were demolished on site a couple of months ago. 

[CloggyDog]

5 hours ago, pheaton said:

Im sure i read somewhere that its been bought for preservation, but there were difficulties encountered trying to extract it.... ISTR it was dumped there after running a hot box

 

i wonder if this is the very very last piece of plain bearing rolling stock left on the mainline??

 

I believe ownership is disputed between NR and EWS, as neither can find it on any official list! This has... complicated... any possible sale into preservation.

 

Another issue is how to extract it from the siding. There's limited access to get it onto a road trailer and the OHLE kind of  restricts any ideas about craning it out. 

 

I guess it could be jacked and wheel-skated out to somewhere more convenient (assuming there's anywhere left on the GE that fits the bill), but would the cost of that then make preservation unviable?

[PhilJ W]

7 hours ago, pheaton said:

Im sure i read somewhere that its been bought for preservation, but there were difficulties encountered trying to extract it.... ISTR it was dumped there after running a hot box

 

i wonder if this is the very very last piece of plain bearing rolling stock left on the mainline??

IIRC it is not known who owns it and that is the problem. A couple of preserved lines were offered it but none were prepared to pay the costs or could afford it. The nearest place where it could be removed from the tracks apparently is Chelmsford and the only way to move it would be on a skate. There's the rub, about ten miles of one of the busiest commuter lines in the country with a vehicle moving at walking pace or less with a high likelihood of something going wrong, (after all it hasn't turned a wheel for years). If something was to go wrong in such a manoeuvre who picks up the bill? 

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, CloggyDog said:

 

I believe ownership is disputed between NR and EWS, as neither can find it on any official list! This has... complicated... any possible sale into preservation.

 

Another issue is how to extract it from the siding. There's limited access to get it onto a road trailer and the OHLE kind of  restricts any ideas about craning it out. 

 

I guess it could be jacked and wheel-skated out to somewhere more convenient (assuming there's anywhere left on the GE that fits the bill), but would the cost of that then make preservation unviable?

As I stated above the nearest place that it can be craned off of the line is now Chelmsford. I understand that the track layout has been altered at Shenfield so I don't know if this suggestion is viable. There is (was?) a car park on the up side of the station quite close to the siding upon which it stands. Park a low loader in the car park parallel to the siding, move the shark opposite the low loader and then jack it sideways onto the low loader. Obviously that is an over simplification of what would be a complex task and might not be possible.

[37114]

42 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

As I stated above the nearest place that it can be craned off of the line is now Chelmsford. I understand that the track layout has been altered at Shenfield so I don't know if this suggestion is viable. There is (was?) a car park on the up side of the station quite close to the siding upon which it stands. Park a low loader in the car park parallel to the siding, move the shark opposite the low loader and then jack it sideways onto the low loader. Obviously that is an over simplification of what would be a complex task and might not be possible.

Realistically the only option is to cut it up on site overnight during a weekend overnight line closure and take the debris away by wagon or over the fence into the car park.

[PhilJ W]

17 minutes ago, 37114 said:

Realistically the only option is to cut it up on site overnight during a weekend overnight line closure and take the debris away by wagon or over the fence into the car park.

Even that has its problems due to the OHLE. Not only in the siding but on the running line alongside. 

[andytrains]

The idea is to Preserve the bloody thing , not to scrap it!

[The Johnster]

Might it be possible to dismantle it carefully on site, remove it in components, and re-assemble it elsewhere?  Tbh, I don't see much point in saving it given the physical difficulties and the ownership issues, as there are plenty of other preserved sharks, but it goes against the grain to say so...

[Halvarras]

12 hours ago, Kris said:

These have now gone. They were demolished on site a couple of months ago. 

 

I happened to be in Penzance on 12th April, my first visit in 8 years, and as we turned out of Sainsbury's to join the road on to the town I pointed out the two bogie tankers embedded in the hedge to our daughter, saying they'd been there a very long time.

So imagine my surprise on discovering via the Cornwall Railway Society's website that they were in the process of demolition just 3 weeks later! Photos by CRS contributor Andrew Triggs showing their somewhat brutal dismemberment can be found at:

www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk 

'Features, Main Index & Outdoor Events Reports'

'Features Index'

'Features January to June 2021'

Look for item 2111 'G7 and all that' and scroll a long way down this to find 'Tidying up for G7' (?!)

[Sorry, tried to post a full link but it wouldn't have it.......or maybe it was just me.......yeah probably just me!]

According to the captions the tankers arrived there in 1988 - coincidentally the year our daughter was born!!

 

[37114]

5 hours ago, andytrains said:

The idea is to Preserve the bloody thing , not to scrap it!

Yes but money talks and one wonders how much demand there is for a shark if it comes with a huge price tag for paying for the removal of it before you have even repaired it. Lots of preserved lines have empty reserves at the moment so won't have the money.

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 hours ago, 37114 said:

Yes but money talks and one wonders how much demand there is for a shark if it comes with a huge price tag for paying for the removal of it before you have even repaired it. Lots of preserved lines have empty reserves at the moment so won't have the money.

 

Might dismantling it for spares help out an already preserved van. although I could see removal of all the bits not being financially viable. maybe some of the fixtures and fittings might come in handy?

 

Mike.

[PhilJ W]

Its actually visible on Google Earth. Go to Shenfield Station car park and zoom in. It also shows the reasons why it will be difficult to remove it as I suggested, there is a line of buildings between the siding and the entrance road to the car park, they look like portacabins. However there's a couple of places at the other end of the siding where it might be possible to extract it but clearances would be very tight.

[iands]

As per the tankers at Penzance, just get Boris to organise a G7 shindig in the Shenfield area and it will soon be removed.

[PhilJ W]

I've had a good look on Google Earth and there is a way to move the Shenfield Shark. At the other end of the siding on which it is a point with one line connecting to the running lines and the other to a short spur. This spur has no OHLE and ends in the car park. 

As there is no OHLE to the spur it should be possible to crane it out. If it wasn't for the relay boxes (on left of picture) it would have been possible to roll it on to a low loader.

Here is a pic of the Shark from Google Earth, just above the 'L' in Shenfield. 

Edited July 6, 2021 by PhilJ W

[micklner]

I last saw the Shenfield Shark 3 about 3 years ago, it was noticably starting to deteriorate at that point, another 3 years on ? .

[PhilJ W]

34 minutes ago, micklner said:

I last saw the Shenfield Shark 3 about 3 years ago, it was noticeably starting to deteriorate at that point, another 3 years on ? .

The timberwork is getting a bit iffy but that is easily repaired or replaced. They were quite substantially built vehicles so that the metalwork should be OK apart from a bit of rust. Someone has posted some recent photographs of it either on this thread or the 'Ghosts in the machine' thread.

[sir douglas]

image address links for some of the Penzance tanker photo from that website

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/uploads/7/6/8/3/7683812/165a-sandy-road-tankers-the-end-1-3rd-may-2021-copyright-andrew-triggs_orig.jpg

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/uploads/7/6/8/3/7683812/165d-sandy-road-tankers-the-end-4-3rd-may-2021-copyright-andrew-triggs_orig.jpghttp://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/uploads/7/6/8/3/7683812/165f-the-remains-from-ponsandane-footbridge-scrap-remains-of-tankers-4th-may-2021-copyright-andrew-triggs_orig.jpg

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/uploads/7/6/8/3/7683812/165h-the-well-rusted-scrap-remains-of-tankers-4th-may-2021-copyright-andrew-triggs_orig.jpg

Edited July 6, 2021 by sir douglas

[Wickham Green too]

Yes, Penzance' sea air doesn't do old bogies a lot of good !

 

[tomparryharry]

It's only 20 tons, so slewing it off a siding is pretty straightforward. It's a job I undertook at the Gwili Railway, where we side-slewed s toad brakevan by 35 feet, and gained 6 feet in height. Mind you, I wouldn't like to do it myself again!

[newbryford]

There's a Tope hiding in the undergrowth near Ince Junction. (On the right when travelling from Wigan towards Liverpool.

 

Seen on 23/6/21

 

Zoom in on the map:

https://goo.gl/maps/UvKPnnAnqgpENuZd9

[andytrains]

1 hour ago, newbryford said:

There's a Tope hiding in the undergrowth near Ince Junction. (On the right when travelling from Wigan towards Liverpool.

 

Seen on 23/6/21

 

Zoom in on the map:

https://goo.gl/maps/UvKPnnAnqgpENuZd9

We need to put a nice Hermit Crab bait out and catch the buggger!

[Enterprisingwestern]

9 hours ago, newbryford said:

There's a Tope hiding in the undergrowth near Ince Junction. (On the right when travelling from Wigan towards Liverpool.

 

Seen on 23/6/21

 

Zoom in on the map:

https://goo.gl/maps/UvKPnnAnqgpENuZd9

 

An isotope?

 

Mike.

[Halvarras]

23 hours ago, sir douglas said:

image address links for some of the Penzance tanker photo from that website

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/uploads/7/6/8/3/7683812/165a-sandy-road-tankers-the-end-1-3rd-may-2021-copyright-andrew-triggs_orig.jpg

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/uploads/7/6/8/3/7683812/165d-sandy-road-tankers-the-end-4-3rd-may-2021-copyright-andrew-triggs_orig.jpghttp://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/uploads/7/6/8/3/7683812/165f-the-remains-from-ponsandane-footbridge-scrap-remains-of-tankers-4th-may-2021-copyright-andrew-triggs_orig.jpg

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/uploads/7/6/8/3/7683812/165h-the-well-rusted-scrap-remains-of-tankers-4th-may-2021-copyright-andrew-triggs_orig.jpg

 

Thank you Sir D, see it was just me!  (Note to self, must practise posting links....)

[Wickham Green too]

8 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

An isotope?

Only if the track under it is actually disconnected rather than lurking in the weeds !

[d winpenny]

All these wagons floating around the network how would someone even begin to go about finding out who owns it for example if someone wanted to save/buy it?